BT shoots for Olympics broadband rollout

BT has announced that the rollout of its superfast broadband network should be completed in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, which will be held in London.

The project, costing an estimated £1.5bn, aims to provide connection speeds of up to 100Mbps, ten times what is generally available now. However, it will only reach around 40% of UK homes, mostly in towns and cities.

The network was originally due to be finished by 2013, but BT has announced that it is ahead of schedule with the project and believes that rollout can be completed by June 2012, just before the Olympic Games in London are due to begin.

“Given the progress we’re making, four million homes will have access to fibre by the end of next year, CEO Ian Livingston said in a statement. “2012 will be an important year for the UK given the Olympics and so I’m keen we provide 10 million homes with access to fibre by the time the games begin.”

According to a report in the Financial Times, pressure from both Labour and the Conservatives has forced BT into pushing on with the project, and the newspaper quoted Livingston as saying that the firm needs more guidance from UK politicians.

“We need our politicians to decide how much of a priority fibre broadband is. BT is the only company currently planning to invest large sums in this area but we can only go so far with our shareholders’ money,” he said, adding that several governments across the world are proactively supporting the rollout of fibre broadband.